Self-locking seal.



PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

E. TYDEN.

SELF LOCKING SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

EMIL TYDEN, HASTINGS, MICHIGAN.

SELF-LOCKING SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,868, dated December20, 1904.

Application filed January 30, 1904. Serial No. 191,296-

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EMIL TYDEN, a citizen of the United States, residingat Hastings, in the county of Barry and State of Michigan, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Self- LockingSeals,of which thefollowing'isaspecification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved seal or devicefor securing packages or receptacles against unauthorized tampering ofthe class commonly known as selflocking.

It consists in the features of construction set out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved seal shown inunlocked position of the parts. Fig. 2 is a section at the line 2 2 onFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section at the line 3 3 on Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is asection at the line 4: 4: on Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section at the planecorresponding to the lines 2 2 and 3 3 through the seal with itscooperating parts interlocked. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a blank fromwhich the securing device is formed.

In the more usual form of my present invention it comprises asecuringdevice 1, which is conveniently and preferably made of a strap or stripof sheet metal, and at one end of said securing device a housing 2, madefast to the strap 1, the other end of the strap being provided withmeans for lodging an engaging device 3, which is preferably aspring-ring, which normally tends to stand closed by lapping its ends,but which in construction of the seal is spread open, ready toreact,however, into closed position, as hereinafter explained. The meansfor holding the spring-ring 3 thus spread consists, preferably, ofcertain leaves or folds of the strap-1, though not necessarily madeintegral with the strap. The construction may be understood from Fig. 6,which shows the blank before folding, and Fig. 2, which shows thecompleted form. In blank (see Fig. 6) a strap 1 has at the end designedto hold the spring-ring a lateral offset or wing 4, which is severedfrom the body of the strap by a slot 5 for a distance commencing at theend and extending back toward the commencement of the wing, stoppingshort thereof at a distance about equal to the width of the body of thestrap, leaving a neck 5 connecting the wing to the body, and from theouter edge of the wing in position corresponding transversely to saidneck 5 there is a further lateral extension 6, which is in width equalto the neck 5 and in length somewhat more than the width of the body ofthe strap. The body of the strap and the wing 4 have similar notches orslots 7 7 extending in from the end about the middle of their width andat a little distance back from said notches similar small apertures 8 8.The body and the wing are both folded back upon their length at thedotted line 9 9 (see Fig. 6) and are folded at the line 10 10 at a rightangle in the opposite direction from the first-mentioned fold and againat the line 11 11 at a right angle in the opposite direction from thefold made at the line 10 10. The blank is then folded at the dotted line12 across the neck in direction to bring the end portions having theslots 7 7 and apertures 8 8 facing each otherthat is, at the inner side,as seen clearly in Fig. 2the result of all the folding being alsoclearly manifest from said Fig. 2, in which it will appear that theslots 7 7 face each other, and the apertures 8 8 likewise face eachother, an interval or throat 13 being left between the two end portionsof the body and wing, respectively, having said apertures and slots, andsaid end portions being spaced a little distance from the inner surfacesof the remaining portions of the wing and strap separated by the slot 5.The wing or lug 6 is now folded outside the body of the strap, so thatthe latter is completely enwrapped, said lug or wing being long enoughso that its edge may be clenched about the fold made at the line 12, andthus the folded elements are securely held in the position described andshown in Fig.2. The spring-ring 3 is lodged as seen in Fig. 2, its endsbeing spread by the enfolded, slotted, and apertured terminal portionsof the body and wing, the ends being lodged against the opposite outersides of said terminal portions at a little distance back toward thefold 9 from the apertures 8, the opposite or middle portion of the ringbeing engaged in the end slots 7 7 of both terminals. The opposite endof the strap from that which has the wing and holds the spring 3, asdescribed, is widened for a short distance at 15, and onto this widenedend there are clenched, by means familiar to the tinners art, two caps16 and 17, which together form a housing which is closed at the end backtoward the body of the strap and opened at the extreme or farther end.The strap does not extend through the whole length of this housing, butstops short, as seen in Fig. 3, at a little distance back from the openend of the housing. At a distance back from the end of the strapsubstantially equal to the diameter of the ring 3 the strap has anaperture 18, adapted to admit the ends of the ring.

In using this seal the securing device or strap 1 is passed around orthrough the handles, hasps, staple, or corresponding means forconnecting and closing the bag, box, door, or other thing to be securedby the seal, and the end of the strap in which the spring 3 is lodged,as described, is then thrust into the open end of the housing. In thisaction the end of the strap within the housing passes into the interval13 between the two terminals in which the spring is lodged, and the endof the strap encountering the ring where it extends across this intervalat its lodgment in the slots 7 7 pushes the ring before it until theends reach the apertures 8 8, which at this juncture will coincide withthe aperture 13, and the end of the strap and the ring closing togetherelastically will thrust its ends through all three apertures, and socompletely engage the two ends of the strap within the housing. In thussnapping through the ap ertures the ring will fly around to anindeterminate position, so that the point at which its lapped or meetingends lie cannot be conjectured. The open mouth of the housing, it willbe understood, is completely closed by the folded end of the strapinserted thereinto, so that no access can be obtained for manipulatingthe ring to disengage the parts.

The end of the strap within the housing which serves for releasing thering to cause it to engage, it will be seen, has the function of thusreleasing the ring, not dependent upon the fact that itis a part of thestrap, though this construction is obviously economical and convenientand desirable for that reason.

The employment in a seal of an elasticallyoperating engaging device,which is by construction held under tension ready to react forengagement of the parts and which is unattached from though engaged withthe parts which are thus connected, is an invention shown and claimed inmy former patents, No. 594,580 and No. 647,052. When this engagingdevice is lodged in the housing and is tripped by the insertion of theother end of the securing device or strap, the structure is open to theobjection that it is impossible to tell whether the engaging device hasbeen released and closed by the mere inspection of the device beforeattempting to use it by insertion of the other end for locking, andseals thus constructed are liable to be rendered valueless by theaccidental dislodging of the spring-engaging device or by theintentional tampering with them, which may be done by inserting a blindstrap-that is, a strap without an aperture-to push the rings from theirlodgment. The present invention avoids this objection by lodging theelastic engaging device not in the housing, but in the other end of thestrap that is, in the inner of the two elements which are to be engagedfor locking so that it is clearly visible before the insertion of saidinner element in the housing for locking and the condition of the sealcan be known beforeattempting to use it. I do not limitmyself,therefore, to the specific con-- struction herein described either ofthe housing, the inserted element, or the engaging device, though theconstructions shown for these parts and their relations for cooperationare specifically desirable for economy and compactness andserviceability and are therefore specifically claimed.

I claim 1. In a self-locking seal in combination with a housing; asecuring device having one end adapted to be inserted into the housing;an elastically-operating engaging device lodged in said end underrestraint, ready upon being released to react into engagement with thehousing, and means within the housing for encountering such engagingdevice to efiect such release.

2. In aself-locking seal in combination with a housing and a securingdevice having one end adapted to be inserted into the housing; anelastically operating engaging device lodged in said inserted end, thelatter having means which holds the engaging device under restraintready to react into engagement with the housing upon being released; ofsaid engaging device and holding means, one being movable relatively tothe other for such release, and means within the housing forencountering and moving the movable one.

3. A self-locking seal comprising a housing and an element adapted to beinserted into the housing; said element having an elasticallyoperatingengaging device and means for holding it under restraint, said deviceand holding means being relatively movable for releasing the engagingdevice, and means within the housing for encountering the movable partto effect such release.

4. A self-locking seal comprising a housing and an element adapted to beinserted thereinto; an elastically-operating engaging device lodged inthe inserted element under restraint and adapted to move in its lodgmentto released position, and means within the housing for encountering andreleasing it.

5. In a self-locking seal in combination with a housing; an elementadapted to be inserted gaging device lodged in the inserted element,

said element having means which holds it under restraint ready to reactfor engagement with the housing when inserted thereinto, and meanswithin the housing encountered upon such insertion to release theengaging'device.

7. A self-locking seal comprising a securing device having at one end ahousing and at the other end an element adapted to be inserted into thehousing; an engaging device lodged unattached in said element andcomprising a spring under restraint, and means within the housing forencountering said engaging device to release its spring and cause it toreact automatically into engagement with the housing.

8. A self-locking seal comprising a securing device having at one end ahousing and at the other end an element adapted to be inserted into thehousing; an elastically-operating engaging device lodged in saidinserted element under restraint, ready upon being released to reactinto engagement with the housing, and means within the housing forencountering said engaging device and effecting such release.

9. A self-locking seal comprising asecuring device having at one end ahousing and at the other end an element adapted to be inserted into thehousing; an elastically-operating engaging device lodged in saidinserted element; the latter having means which hold the engaging deviceunder restraint, ready to react into engagement with the housing uponbeing released, said engaging device and holding means being movablerelatively, and means within the housm g for encountering the movableone to effect such release.

10. A self-locking seal comprising a housing and an element adapted tobe inserted thereinto and to close the aperture through which it enters;a ring formed to close elastically, engaged with but unattached to theinserted element; the latter having means holding the ring spread open;the housing having means which, upon the insertion of the spring-holdingelement. enters the open ring, encounters and releases it and isinterlocked with it by its closing.

11. A self-locking seal comprising a securing-strap; a housingcomprising caps, 16 and 1'7, fast on opposite sides of one end of thestrap and forming a housing open at one end, the portion of the strapwithin the housing having an aperture back of the end of the strap; anelement at the opposite end of the strap adapted to be inserted into theopen end of the housing and to close the opening and the ring, 3, lodgedin said element, the latter having detainers for holding the ring openand provided with apertures for engaging the ring when it closes, saiddetainers being in position to admit the end of the strap in the housingbetween them when the spring-holding element is inserted into thehousing.

12. A self-locking seal comprising a securing-strap which has at one endtwo parallel elements slightly spaced from each other; a spring-ring, 3,spread to clasp said elements, the latter having corresponding aperturesthrough which the ends of the ring may en gage when it closes; the otherend of the strap having a housing open at one end, adapted for theinsertion of the ring-holding element at the other end of the strap, andhaving within it an obstruction in the path of the interval between saidspaced elements, adapted thereby to pass between them within the ringand to encounter the latter for releasing it from said elements.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twowitnesses, at Chicago, Illinois, this 19th day of January, A. D. 1904.

EMIL TYDEN In presence of- FREDK. G. FIscHER, M. G. ADY.

